It's a screamer of a film, testing the waning strength of a relationship that is staring hatred right in its face.
here’s something quite cathartic about watching two people scream at each other across the room, no fisticuffs involved, just sharp acidulous words sucker punching each other. I suppose the enjoyment lies in the safe distance the film puts me at from the insults flying at each other, I can take a back seat and pick a side. It’s a screaming sport. Perhaps the reason I enjoy on-screen arguments so much could be that I’m totally useless in an argument. I’m the sort of person who gets completely tongue-tied and like a Christmas present that arrives in February, I finally come up with something to say back hours later. It’s a bent sort of confidence building, watching two people have at it almost gives you the backbone to do the same. But enough about my debate defects.
My better half and I, to quell the dull and quiet evening yesterday ate potato pancakes and watched Malcolm and Marie (2021), and its interesting watching a film with my girlfriend about a relationship being bashed on the rocks by ingratitude. It made us wonder, how the hell do people let things get to this point, do they forget how to love properly? Possibly. Set during a silent and late night after a couple; Malcolm, a filmmaker and his girlfriend Marie, return from a marvellous screening of his directorial debut, things begin to get heated between them as in light of a recent event, both begin questioning the nature of their relationship. Not thinking Marie in his speech was the straw that broke the camel’s back and things begin to whirl out of control between them as they hurl abuse at each other, especially Malcolm. There is very obviously a bad guy here and it isn’t hard at all to choose sides. Through their words as they cut through the air and into their hearts, I got a pretty clear idea of their relationship leading all the way up to this fateful moment, both of them using their past actions as ammunition against each other, a rather clever way of giving insight into their past rather than just having them ramble on about it in exposition.
As much as I love this cautionary tale of a film, it could’ve been 20 minutes shorter. We both felt it dragged near the end. Initially I thought the scene where Malcolm is seized with apoplexy over the review on his film should’ve been scrapped but after mulling over it for a while, I take it back, it’s ironically one of the most intimate moment between the pair.
This is most probably my own jangled view of the argument but their dialogue felt more like a debate than a passionate argument, each person had their turn to speak while the other silently listened until the floor was theirs, this made the whole structure of the film a bit repetitive for me. Now I know this is how a true argument between a couple should be, honestly listening to one another and speaking when the other is done rather than rudely interrupting, but for the dramatic purposes of the film I feel a pass or two should’ve been given to them for disruption.
The decision to shoot this film in black and white was a pragmatic one and it really makes it look beautiful and touching. It wouldn’t have been half as charming had it been shot in colour. When you’re in love with someone, arguing and screaming at them is the last thing you want to do, so when such a situation does descend on you, it’s rarely ever black and white. Framing their troubles within this monochromatic world lets us see their problems for what they are, seriously damning myopic oversights, mostly from Malcolm’s side which have rippled throughout their relationship and turned into this tumour. There’s plenty of points throughout the film where both characters are separated by the blocking and composition, even when they’re intimate with one another, there’s always something which manages to get in the way and keep them from another. How the camera sets this up is moving through and around their argument as if I was peering into a dollhouse watching little people howl and shout at each other.
Focusing on their acting, both Zendaya and John David Washington gave stellar performances; Zendaya more composed and articulate while John on the unhinged and explosive side. Their binary gave me a pretty good idea of the dynamic of their romance and the sort of arguments they have had in the past, because with how confident they are in fighting with each other it seems they’ve been at it for a while.
How this touching portrayal of love on the rocks begins, over a bowl of mac and cheese, the presence of which lingers for a while, set me up for a turbulent battle, and though it begins to stagger later on, I found it extremely captivating till the very end, a point where it’s left open to whether this argument will spell the end of their romance or turn the page to a new chapter.
Comments